New York City FC to make debut at Yankee Stadium

Major League Soccer (MLS) has announced that new franchise, New York City FC, will kick-off their debut 2015/16 season at Yankee Stadium, which is ‘home’ to Major League Baseball’s (MLB) New York Yankees, who co-own the MLS franchise with the English Premier League’s Manchester City FC.

Claudio Reyna, Sporting Director at New York City FC, said: “By having our home facility at Yankee Stadium, we feel even more confident that we’ll be able to attract top-level talent from around the world to our organisation. Top athletes want the opportunity to showcase their talents at the world’s most famous sports venues, and Yankee Stadium is just such a venue.”

The capacity of the stadium will be reduced to 33,444 for New York City FC’s matches; the venue’s 49,642-capacity for baseball being too large for MLS games. The size reduction will be achieved by the upper tiers being closed off.

Plans for a soccer-specific stadium are ongoing, although no time frame has been announced for a new stadium or for how long Yankee Stadium will be ‘home’ to the MLS side.

Manchester City FC will play Liverpool FC in a friendly at Yankee Stadium on July 30, 2014.

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